Braunton Youth Club50 The Brittons,

BRAUNTON,North Devon,

EX33 2HF

April 2015

Dear Parents / Carers of

I am writing to introduce Braunton Youth Club to you and to give you some information which you may find useful about our group and how it is run.

Youth Club is held on a Monday and Thursday evening (excluding School Holidays, but open on Bank Holidays), from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm at The Yard, Caen Street Car Park, BRAUNTON. Youth Club is wholly inclusive and is currently for 11 year olds (school year 7) to 18 year olds.

The sessions are• To support, challenge and enable the learning of young people in order that they may realise their full potential in shaping their own lives.• promote the social and economic inclusion of all young people so that they can contribute to, influence and be valued as part of their community and of society as a whole.

We prepare activities for our Young People in which they participate on a voluntary basis. By the same token, Young People are free to leave Youth Club and return as many times throughout a session as they want to. (We are unable to enforce that they remain in the building.)

Sessions are run by a group of Voluntary Youth Workers. We are all DBS Security Checked, many Volunteers have received Child Protection training and some are First Aid trained too. We also have clear policies and procedures regarding Child Protection and Safeguarding, Health and Safety and Behaviour.

We ask all Young People to complete a Memberships form (which is how we have your details), and all Young People are asked to sign our Young Persons’ Agreement (attached), to show that they understand and are willing to stick to our Behaviour Expectations.

We are a member of VOYC Devon (Voluntary Organisation for Young People and Children). They have been a great support to us while we have been setting up the Youth Club, and have provided us with model policies and procedures. They have also given us funding for Training Courses.We are also a member of LYN DYS (Local Youth Network at Devon Youth Service). Again, these are a great organisation who are able to provide us with advice and some funding too.

PHOTOGRAPHY AT BRAUNTON YOUTH CLUB AND ON THE BRAUNTON YOUTH CLUB WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE

We would like to use facebook and our website to promote our activities, and sometimes this may include photos of our activities. The policy promotes the disciplines of our club, as governed by our constitution and Young Persons Agreement. This includes promoting and recognising youth and juvenile activities. However, with Child and Vulnerable Adults Protection now a high priority for all groups working with these groups, Braunton Youth Club has developed a specific policy of protecting young people who may be photographed. Braunton Youth Club will only publish members’ pictures who have signed to agree they are happy for us to do so for over 16 year olds. The publication of images of under sixteens on the internet is an increasingly sensitive issue. For under 16 year old members, parental consent will be sought. Braunton Youth Club will always remove images from its website upon request, where reasonable.

We would like to communicate with Parents / Carers on a regular basis. If you would like to either be involved with Youth Club, or receive regular updates, could you please indicate this on the form below? You can either send the complete reply in to Youth Club with your child or post it to the above address. Alternatively, you could email your preferences to me at brauntonyouthclub@Hotmail.co.uk.

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards on behalf of all Braunton Youth Club Youth Workers and Committee.

Katie MajorSecretaryBraunton Youth Club

NAME:

CHILD’S NAME:

HOME ADDRESS:

Email ADDRESS:

I am / am not* interested in becoming involved with Braunton Youth Club.

I am / am not* interested in receiving news about Braunton Youth Club’s activities

Please do / do not* use photographs of my child on Facebook or the Club Website*Delete as appropriate

Comments

Braunton Youth Club

Young Persons’ Agreement

Each user should read and sign the agreement which will be then kept in their personal file.

1. I agree to respect all other users of Braunton Youth Club including young people, Youth Workers, volunteers, any visitors, guests and members of the public.

2. I agree not to use language that could offend any other users of Braunton Youth Club including young people, Youth Workers, volunteers, any visitors, guests and members of the public.

3. I agree not to bully, threaten or use intimidating or violent behaviour towards young people, Youth Workers, volunteers, any visitors, guests and members of the public.

4. I agree to respect the building and the equipment inside and outside by not intentionally damaging or defacing anything.

5. I agree smoking is not permitted within the building or in the open doorways, and will not have smoking paraphernalia on display.

6. I agree not to bring alcohol or drugs onto the premises.

7. I agree that I will not visit Braunton Youth Club under the influence of drink or drugs.

I understand that if I break this agreement, staff have the right to warn me and ask me to leave the premises and may call my parents / guardians and / or the police if necessary.

SIGNED ………………………………………………………………………………………………...

DATED…………………………………………………………………………………………………